“‘The hailstorm, which lasted for a good 30 minutes, struck in a leopard-spot pattern [affecting] one out of every six vineyards,’ said Luigi Soini, director at the Cantina Produttori di Cormons. ‘In some cases, as in Plessiva, Zegla, and Preval, 100% of the crop was lost. In others, 80%. In the more fortunate cases, only 10-15% of the fruit was damaged… It’s been years since a calamity of this proportion has occurred in Collio.’”

Note how the canopy in the photo above has been almost entirely destroyed. Even where vineyards were not affected directly by the hail, the rot that will follow can have a devastating effect on. Many wineries, said Giampaolo, including some of the biggest names, will not be producing wine in the 2010 vintage.